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This week is Speech-Language Therapy Awareness Week!

This week is Speech-Language Therapy Awareness Week!

Today marks the beginning of Speech-Language Therapy Awareness Week, and we would like to honour our amazing team of three (soon to be four!) speech-language therapists, who play an essential role in our services here at Laura Fergusson Brain Injury Trust.

The theme for this year’s Awareness Week is rangatiratanga, which is a word that plays an important role for speech-language therapists. Rangatiratanga is connected with one’s autonomy and self-determination. In a health context, it is a person’s right to participate in the decision-making of their own health, education, and well-being.

Del, one of our speech-language therapists, says, "working as a speech-language therapist with clients who have a traumatic brain injury is often a misunderstood role (“I can talk, so why do I need to see a speech-language therapist?”). It is our job to educate others around us about the work we do. Assessment and rehabilitation of cognitive-communication disorders form a large part of our work. Underlying cognitive difficulties (concentration, memory, organization, information processing, problem-solving, and executive functions) can cause difficulties in communication (listening, speaking, writing, reading, conversation, and social interactions). These difficulties can lead to significant impacts for people with brain injuries participating in family, work and community life."

Speech-language therapists aim to promote communication competence in real-world settings and reduce the negative effects of communication disorders. They play an incredibly important role in the recovery journey of our clients. Enabling clients in communication gives them the opportunity to exercise rangatiratanga, and we think that is very special.

Thank you to Peta, Laura, and Del, our Speech-Language Therapists!